Otis a



O. A. 8: J. T. SMITH. REVOLVING FIREARM.

Patented 13 0.20, 1881.

(No Model.)

.. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, OTIS SMITH AND JOHN T. SMITH, OF MIDDLEFIELD, CONNECTICUT; SAID JOHNT. SMITH ASSIGNO R TO SAID OTIS A. SMITH.

' REVOLVING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 251,306, dated December20, 1881.

Application filed October 28, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Edit known that we; 0131s A. SMITH and JOHN T. SMITH, of Middlefield, inthe county ofMiddlesex and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a newImprovement in Revolvers; and we do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in-

Figure 1, a side view, Fig. 2, a longitudinal section,Fig. 3, a sideview, ot'the mechanism of the arm; Figs. 4 and 5, detached views.

This invention relates to an improvementin that class of revolvers inwhich the barrel and cylinder are hinged to the forward end of theframe, so as to turn down in a vertical plane, commonly calledbreak-downs or tilting up at the breech, parts of which are applicableto other arms of the break-down or tiltingup class, the object of theinvention being principally to make a convenient means for securing thebarrel when in place and it consists in a latch, pivoted in the receiverin rear of the barrel, extending upward, to engage the barrel whenclosed, and downward from the pivot, combined with a spring device inthe rear end of the tilting part, which, as the the ing part returns toplace, will strike the said latch below its pivot and throw the upperend forward into engagement with the tilting part, and so as to holdsaid tilting part in place, as

:'more fully hereinafter described.

We represent the invention as applied to a revolver only, and werepresent the revolver as.

one of common outline or appearance, in which Ais the frame, to whichthe barrel B is hinged at the forward end, as at a, provided with acenter-pin, C, on which the cylinder D is arranged, with an arm, E,extending rearward from the barrel to engage the frame in the usualmanner, as seen in Fig. 1, and so that when disengaged the barrel may betilted, taking with it the cylinder, as seen in broken lines,

j Fi'g. 1, also in the usual manner.

In the frame in rear of the cylinder a leverlike latch is hung upon apivot, b, its upper 1f." arm, F, extending-vertically upward, terminat-5 ng in a T shape at the top, as seen in Fig. 4,

so as to engage the part E of the barrel, as seen in Fig. 3, or turnedto the rear upon its pivot to disengage the barrel, as indicated inbroken lines, Fig. 3. The T part extends to each side, so as to formconvenient means for the thumb and finger to operate the latch; or otherdevices may be arranged for moving the lever. The other arm, f, extendsforward, as at h, to near the front face of the rear end of thecylinder-recess.

In the center-pin is a spring-bolt, i, which projects at the rear end ofthe center-pin, and so as to strike the arm f, or a projection, h,thereon, as seen in Fig. 2, through an opening in the frame. \Vhen thelatch is turned back to release the barrel, as indicated in ,brokenlines, Fig. 2, the lower arm,f, or the projection h therefrom, forcesthe spring-bolt i into the center-pin and out of the opening in theframe, so that the barrel may be tilted in the usual manner. Then whenthe barrel is returned the spring-bolt strikes the face of the frame andpasses down against the face, being thereby forced inward until it comesto the opening it in the frame, which is when the barrel is com- 5pletely returned. Then the bolt springs rearward, acting upon the latchbelow its pivot, so as to throw the upper end, F, forward intoengagement with the barrel, as shown, and so as to hold the barrelfirmly in place.

It will be readily seen that this device for securing the barrel may beapplied to other breakdown or tilting arms--thatis to say, by simplyarrangingthe spring-bolt at some point in the rear end of the barrel orbarrels, so that 85 it will strike the locking-latch below its pivot tothrowthe latch forward to engage the barrels when'closed. This part ofthe invention, therefore,is not to be understood as limited torev'olvers. o

In the latch we arrange a firing-pin, 1, which the hammer L will strikeas it is thrown forward, the pin being loose in the latch or free forlongitudinal movement. Then when the latch is drawn backward to releasethe barrel, 9 5 as seen in broken lines, Fig. 2, the firing-pin willalso be drawn backward out of the way of the barrel or the cylinder, toallow the barrel to be tilted. This movement of the firing-pin may alsobe made in other tilting fire-arms.

r is the hand or pawl, pivoted to the hammer L, as at s, with a springapplied to force the noseot the pawl forward into engagement with theratchet on the rear end of the cylinder, and so that when the hammer isturned the pawl will engage the ratchet on the cylinder and rotat'e thecylinder in the usual manner. To take the pawl out of the way of thecylinder when it is desired to tilt the barrel, an arm, t, extends fromthe arm f of the latch downward, and so that when the latch is turnedbackward to release the barrel the said arm t will strike the lower arma of the pawl and turn its nose away from the ratchet, as seen in Fig.3;hence the nose of the pawl cannot project beyond the face-ofthe-receiver until the barrels are fully closed, because it'will be heldback by the arm t Fig. 3, before the disengagement ofthe barrel.

The latch also prevents the hammerfrom striking an effective blow untilit is completely engaged.

We claim 1. In a fire-arm in which the barrel is pivoted forward so asto tilt up at the breech, the combination of a lever hung in the frame,one arm of which extends upward to engage the barrel when closed,theother extendingdownward from the pivot, with a spring-bolt in thetilting part arranged to strike the arm of the lever below its pivot asthe barrel approaches its closed position, and so that the force of thesaid bolt will turn the upper arm forward to lock the barrel in itsclosed position, substantially as described.

. ward from the pivot, with a spring-bolt in the tilting part arrangedto strike the arm of the lever below its pivot as the barrel approachesits closed position, and so that the force of the said bolt will turnthe upper arm forward to lock the barrel in its closed position, with afiring-pin arranged in the upper arm of said 1ever free for longitudinalmovement, substantially as described. 1

3. In a revolver, the combination of a lever hung in. the frame and inrear of the cylinder-recess, one arm of which extends upward from thepivot to engage the barrel when closed, a pawl or hand pivoted to thehammer to engage the ratchet on the cylinder when the hammer is turned,and an arm extending from said lever below its pivot to engage with thesaid pawl below its pivot, whereby the turning of said lever backward torelease the barrels also turns the said handaway from its position ofengagement with the ratchet, substantialiy as described.

- OTIS A. SMITH. JOHN T. SMITH.- Witnesses:

VALERIUS H. OoLEs,

HENRY (J. WILcox.

